NDIS Employment Assistance on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast: Built Around Each Person

Loving Life Support Services

Oct 13

2 min read

No two people take the same path into work. That is why our NDIS Employment Assistance program on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast is not a fixed course. It is built around each participant: their goals, their strengths and the kind of work they want to do.

Employment Assistance replaces School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES). If you are new to the change, our guide explains what the switch from SLES to Employment Assistance means.

What Is Employment Assistance?

Employment Assistance is NDIS funding that helps participants build skills for work and find a job that suits them. It sits under Capacity Building, in the Finding and Keeping a Job category.

It can help participants to:

Try different kinds of work through work experience
Build essential skills for work, like using public transport, communicating at work and understanding what employers expect
Identify and manage barriers to finding and keeping a job
Connect with employers and find the right role
Develop a career plan

Why We Tailor Employment Assistance to Each Person

A program that works for a confident young person ready for retail will not work for someone who is still building routine, or who has never caught a bus on their own. Starting from the person, not the program, means support goes where it is actually needed.

So before anything else, we get to know the participant: what interests them, what they are good at, what feels hard, and what a good job would look like to them. Everything else is built from there.

What Tailored Support Can Look Like

Depending on the person, Employment Assistance might focus on:

Job readiness and employability skills
Communication and teamwork in the workplace
Time management and routine planning
Workplace safety
Industry-specific work experience, such as hospitality, retail, trades or community services
Public transport training and travel planning
Confidence building for future independence

One participant might spend most of their time on travel training and routine. Another might go straight into supported work experience. The mix changes as the person grows.

Who Is Employment Assistance For?

It suits participants who:

Have recently left school and want to work towards a job
Are older and want to get into work, or back into it
Want to explore different industries before committing to one
Need practical support with the skills that make work possible, not just the job itself

If SLES is already in a plan, it can still be used for now. SLES is being phased out, with the change expected to be complete by 30 June 2027.

Employment Assistance on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast

We deliver Employment Assistance across both regions, from our Nerang Hub and our Moffat Beach Studio, and out in real workplaces and community settings. Learning happens in real environments, with experienced support close by.